Teen boy who drowned in Plymouth pool is identified

A 16-year-old boy who drowned Friday night in a Plymouth apartment building pool has been identified as Benedict Richardson.

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office, which released his name Saturday, said Richardson lived in the apartment building at 15300 37th Av.

The boy had been pulled from the bottom of the indoor pool by a family member about 7 p.m. Friday, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson.

The drowning was accidental, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Plymouth police officers attempted to resuscitate the teen, and firefighters and North Memorial Ambulance paramedics also tried to revive him before taking him to North Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s water patrol is investigating, along with the medical examiner’s office. The water patrol is responsible for probing all water-related deaths in the county.

The sheriff’s mobile crime lab and a detective also were called to the scene. On Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office would not disclose further circumstances of the drowning.

The teen’s hometown was Monrovia, Liberia, according to his Facebook profile.